Chapter 1 Silver-Haired Woman

The silver-haired woman turned around, curiously sizing up Hao Ren. "You're Hao Ren? The 'interesting assistant' that 12345 mentioned?"

Hao Ren, who hadn't even finished his usual rambling greeting, was taken aback by the raven's strange attitude. He looked at the familiar silver-haired woman in surprise. "What's wrong with you? Did you eat something bad? And what's with the lightning and thunder outside?"

"Outside? Don't worry, it's just a small problem. This hub is passing through a fissure. I don't know much about this world, so I deviated from the course a little," the silver-haired woman, who looked exactly like Raven 12345, said calmly, giving Hao Ren a gentle smile. "Also, I think you've mistaken me for someone else. 12345 isn't here; I'm filling in for her."

Her voice was gentle, her smile elegant, and her demeanor calm yet approachable. She gave off a feeling of warmth and reliability, like a dependable older sister, while also radiating a subtle air of authority. The temperament of this woman was completely different from Raven 12345. Even though she had the exact same face, Hao Ren realized that this was someone else. He suddenly remembered that there was more than one "Raven," and that they were distinguished by numbers. His superior was just one of countless goddesses, number 12345—so was this another Raven? Another goddess?

"Um, I'm Hao Ren," realizing that this was a strange goddess, and coupled with the aura that made people couldn't help but be serious, Hao Ren quickly abandoned his casual, neighbor-visiting attitude and sat up straight. "You are..."

"Don't be nervous. You can tell me anything. Raven 12345 has already handed over her work," the silver-haired woman nodded and sat down behind the desk. "You can call me Raven 23333."

Hao Ren was still trying to appear serious when he heard this, and almost choked. "Huh?"

"Raven 23333. Is that name strange in your civilization?" The silver-haired woman looked at Hao Ren curiously, then touched her chin, looking thoughtful. "The diversity of civilizations is a fascinating topic. Many things that have no logical meaning are given all sorts of connotations..."

Hao Ren quickly composed himself, ignoring the huge contrast between the name and the temperament of the woman in front of him (he was afraid that dwelling on the issue would suffocate him). "Speaking of which, 12345 hasn't come back yet? What exactly did she go to do?"

"Routine checkup, report. Don't worry, it's nothing serious."

"The last time I heard, she was dueling with someone..."

"Oh, that means she got into a fight again during her report. She often fights with people, and she's been reprimanded by the Mother for it once."

Hao Ren: "...Then let's talk about serious matters. I came to ask about bringing people into the Dream Plane..."

Hao Ren didn't know how much this substitute goddess (don't forget, Raven 12345 was a substitute herself) knew about the work here, so he explained the problems he had encountered in detail. At the end, he thought of an additional question: "Besides bringing people into the Dream Plane, there's another thing, and that's the duration after entering—the longest I've been in the Dream Plane is just a night's sleep, which is only a few hours. I'm one hundred percent detached after waking up, which isn't enough. Now we want to investigate the situation in the Dream Plane in detail, but each time we only have a few hours to explore a place as big as the real world... Converted to the real world, it's only enough for me to explore from Huangcun to Tongxian... Do you think it's possible to extend the Dream Time with technical means?"

"Checking the Dream Plane? So you're in charge of this," Raven 23333 pondered. "You want to bring people into the Dream Plane? That's no problem. As long as you use special equipment for mental synchronization, you can do it. The duration can also be extended. There's no technical difficulty. But who do you want to bring in? I think this should be official business, so it's best not to involve unrelated ordinary people."

"They're not ordinary, not ordinary at all," Hao Ren quickly waved his hand. Although this Raven 23333 had a silly name, she still had an aura that made people afraid to joke around. Her slow but steady and serious tone made Hao Ren, who was usually quite glib, afraid to say anything casually. "They're my tenants. Raven 12345 said to have them help."

"Okay, come with me."

Raven 23333 didn't hesitate and directly opened a portal, letting Hao Ren follow her in. After passing through the portal, Hao Ren found himself in a very familiar place: it was the room where he had undergone his body enhancement modification!

However, Raven 23333 didn't raise the adjustment pods hidden under the floor. Instead, she activated another set of equipment in the room. Accompanied by a melodious chime like a wind chime, a beam of light appeared in the center of the room. Countless complex blue and white lines quickly outlined in this beam of light, and soon formed a series of blurry cuboid objects. These cuboid objects slowly floated out of the beam of light and solidified into reality in the air. Only then did Hao Ren realize that they were also "adjustment pods," but these adjustment pods were smaller than the ones he had seen last time, and their surface structure seemed simpler. The lower half wasn't fixed to any slots on the floor, which made them look more like...coffins.

"I had the Information-Matter Conversion Device create some simple hibernation pods for you. They can meet your requirements. The usage is very simple; they come with instructions," Raven 23333 carefully operated on the control crystal panel, suddenly raising her head to ask Hao Ren, "How many people are in your family?"

"Um...five, no, make a few more, just in case we need them in the future!"

Hao Ren initially calculated based on the existing personnel on his side, but he soon realized that he might have to accommodate more tenants in the future, and there would be more people entering the Dream Plane than today, so he wanted to get a few more spares, but Raven 23333 operated on the crystal panel a few times and then gave him an apologetic smile. "Let's stick to five... You can apply for more if you need them in the future."

Hao Ren was stunned. "Is there a quota requirement?"

"No, the Information-Matter Conversion Device seems to be broken," Raven 23333 looked at the crystal panel in front of her in confusion. "I modified the values, and then slightly used arcane distortion to catalyze its operating efficiency. Now something's stuck..."

Without Raven 23333 saying anything, Hao Ren also realized that the equipment in the room seemed to be malfunctioning. The beam of light in the center of the room was flickering with white lines that looked like interference patterns, and some broken bands kept appearing from top to bottom. A "buzzing" sound that didn't sound right was getting louder and louder from the bottom of the light column, and the light lines that should have condensed into hibernation pods were quickly and uncontrollably twisting into a large, crackling ball of lightning. Excess energy began to overflow from the walls in all directions of the room. The psionic light veins on the ceiling were getting brighter and brighter, and Hao Ren's heart immediately jumped: he saw a huge flame of light condensing above the Information-Matter Converter, swelling rapidly like breathing!

"The process is stuck," Raven 23333 looked up at the ball of light. Seeing Hao Ren's eyes that seemed to say, "Stop being calm and think of a way," she hesitated again and again, and finally waved her hand to summon an arcane lightning bolt and struck the control crystal panel. "Out with the old, in with the new. May His Majesty forgive this loss."

Powerful arcane energy surged into the Information-Matter Conversion Device, preventing a serious indoor explosion by burning out the core. However, Hao Ren seemed to hear another explosion from somewhere far above...hopefully that was just the thunder outside the mansion.

Hao Ren: "..."

Raven 23333 didn't seem to feel anything about this accident. She just looked at the five hibernation pods that had already been manufactured in the center of the room, and nodded with satisfaction. "Well, it's done."

The corner of Hao Ren's mouth twitched. When he heard Raven 12345 claim that all Ravens were technologically inept, he secretly slandered her, thinking that the crazy woman was shirking responsibility. But now, watching a sister who was a goddess from her temperament to her personality calmly destroy a piece of equipment that looked very impressive, he finally believed that Raven 12345 hadn't lied that day: Sure enough, all Ravens are technological idiots!

"Take these away," Raven 23333 pointed to the brand-new equipment that had been created out of thin air. "Settle the Dream Plane as soon as possible. This matter has begun to worsen."

(A roar at the beginning of the month, asking for a monthly ticket!)